The Work and Pensions Secretary calls on Ed Miliband to "say immediately"
what cuts he would make to stay below a legal cap on welfare set by the
Coalition

Labour's decision to back the Government's welfare bill cap is a "scam" unless Ed Miliband is able to say how his party would be able to pay for the scrapping of the so-called "bedroom tax", Iain Duncan Smith has said.

The Work and Pensions Secretary called on Ed Miliband to "say immediately" what cuts he would make to stay below a legal cap on welfare set by the Coalition.

Mr Miliband has ordered his MPs to support the cap on welfare spending of £119 billion set out in George Osborne's Budget.

In voting for the measure, Labour will avoid Conservative allegations about supporting a profligate welfare state.

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Labour will argue that it would spend the budget differently, claiming its reforms would save money within the welfare system and enable them to reverse Coalition moves such as the cut in housing benefit for council tenants with spare rooms - dubbed the "bedroom tax" by critics.

Several Labour MPs are planning to defy Mr Miliband's orders by voting against the Coalition's plans this week.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Duncan Smith said that by scrapping the "bedroom tax", Labour would immediately breach the cap because it would cost £460 million.

Labour would have to make other cuts to welfare or would have to seek approval from Parliament to increase benefits spending, Mr Duncan Smith said.

He said: "They are voting for our controlled totals - that means that their pledge at the moment to get rid of the spare room subsidy, which is going to cost £460 million as the OBR [Office for Budget Responsibility] has said. They have to say immediately now what would they actually reduce in that spending to be able to afford that otherwise they are voting to break the cap immediately.

Mr Duncan Smith added: "When Labour vote today, I think there's a bit of a scam going on. Because what they are trying to persuade their own backbenchers is, 'Don't worry, we won't implement this as it stands'.

"They have to tell us whether they would make savings to cover getting rid of the spare room subsidy. That is the key."

In the Budget, Mr Osborne set the level of the cap for four years from 2015. Welfare spending will rise in line with inflation from £119.5 billion in 2015-16 to £126.7 billion in 2018-19.

Any spending that would break the cap would require savings to be found elsewhere in the social security budget or approval from Parliament.

Mr Osborne has already said he wants to see £12 billion more sliced off the welfare bill, which is currently £112.5 billion, in the two years following the election in May 2015.

It means the Conservatives are likely to go into the next election pledging to further lower the welfare cap.